Taking Shape

Taking Shape, a brand that celebrates women’s curves, has women all over the Inner West talking. They’ve recently opened up their 150th store in MarketPlace Leichhardt. We chatted with General Manager of Retail Operations Jo Newman to find out why…

How did Taking Shape come about?
Taking Shape has proudly been celebrating curves for over 30 years. We’re an Australian-born brand that aims to provide wardrobe solutions for curvy women in sizes 12 to 24.

Over the last three decades we’ve not only grown our range to include more fashion options from work to weekend, evening to active, as well as shoes and accessories but also grown our stores – with currently over 150 across Australia and New Zealand.

What inspires your business to cater for plus-size women?
The customer is at the heart of our business and we take pride in providing a fun and supportive environment where plus size women can take the time to discover the styles and looks that suit them. We believe size shouldn’t be a barrier to having fun with fashion and looking great so we spend each moment of the day dedicated to helping women celebrate their curves.

What sets your business apart?
At Taking Shape we pride ourselves on helping our customers celebrate their curves, to us – it’s not about selling clothes it’s as simple as making our customers look and feel great through fashion.

How does Taking Shape inspire women to be more confident with their body image?
We specialize in plus size fashion, so we know how to create fashion for ample thighs, curvy hips and tummies. By designing fashion that flatters a curvy body, we help customers look and feel great about themselves. Our fashion stylists provide advice, guidance and tips for dressing so customers can feel confident to create these looks every-day.

Tell us about your Personalised Styling Experiences. What do customers love about it?
Our Personalised Styling Experiences have been known to change lives. A customer books a complimentary session with one of our trained fashion stylists and they then receive tailored, personalised fashion advice. These experiences can be anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours where customers build a travel wardrobe for a holiday, discover what styles suit their shape or reinvent some styles that they already own. The dedicated one-on-one attention that our customer receives and the fun that they have playing dress ups in the fitting room is a wonderful experience.

What’s the best response you’ve received from a client?
That moment when a customer steps out of the fitting room with a smile on their face is the moment we live for. To see the joy that finding an outfit that makes you look and feel fabulous is amazing and we get to see that every day!

What are some memorable moments or achievements of your business?
Every time we open a store is a moment to savor. We’ve doubled our number of stores over the past 7 years and to think about where we started to what we’ve grown to is phenomenal. It excites us to think about all the customers we’ve met, the moments we’ve had and the sky is the limit for where we can grow!

What does the future hold for Taking Shape?
We never stand still at Taking Shape, so we’re always looking for ways to improve and help our customers – whether it’s looking for more store locations, so you’re never far away from a Taking Shape or expanding our product range to include more options, styles and fabrications. We don’t know what the future holds, but were excited for it and looking forward to going on the journey with our customers!